The Predators

"This planet is a game reserve. And we're the game."

You'd probably say the same thing if you were Adrien Brody, and you woke up to find yourself on an alien world, surrounded by jungle forests, deadly humans, and even deadlier creatures.

But are these the same Predators who terrified Arnold Schwarzenegger and almost tore apart Danny Glover?

They're certainly a central part of the project for Rodriguez: “The audience have to identify with the human characters enough so that if the humans show fear then they would show fear against what they’re seeing. So, we really had to nail the human characters in order to make the Predator character actually stronger. One without the other doesn’t work... but our Predators actually have terrific and distinct personalities so that they weren’t just the ‘others.’ They are actually characters in their own right.”

Long-time Rodriguez collaborators Greg Nicotero and his partner Howard Berger were charged with creating the alien creatures: “This is a really exciting show for us. We’re actually creating the title characters of the film, and multiples of them,” comments Nicotero, charged with bringing to life the beefed up version of the old Predator, which fell victim to the modern, deadly, new generation. The key? Three new Berserker Predators - Dog Handler, Falconer, and Mr. Black.

At the same time, they never lost touch with the original movie. “Shannon Shea, who was basically my lieutenant on this movie, had worked at Stan Winston’s company on the original Predator, so he was really invested in this project,” explains Nicotero. Shea and property master Tommy Tomlinson were the two veterans of the crew, having both worked on the 1987 movie.

As such, the effects used are partly retro, using practical state-of-the-art creature suits. “Being able to see the original Predator in our story had a nostalgia factor, because you hadn’t really seen him like that since the first movie,” comments Rodriguez. “We just wanted it to feel like it evolved – to bring back the original, plus a new updated, nastier, meaner breed.”

“Robert and Nimrod were really specific about our Classic Predator being the ‘cassette tape’ version and the new Predator being the iPod version, so instantly I had ideas of bringing the armor closer to the body and sweeping the dreadlocks back and elongating the head a little bit so that it wasn’t quite as square-looking. It’s not always 'bigger is better’; the new Predators are elegant-looking because they’re tall, long, and lean.” 

“We see their masks for most of the film and they have a lot of personality: The Dog Handler had tusks that he had taken off of one of the hunting dogs; The Falconer had a very specific mask design; and Mr. Black had this weird alien jaw. Each has a unique personality."

Bringing that personality to the screen as the Classic Predator is 6ft 5" Derek Mears, who played Jason Voorhes in the Friday the 13th remake - a man unafraid of chopping up humans.

But as much as casting and make-up is important, a lot comes down to the way the creatures are shown. And Nimrod Antal's all too aware of that:

“In the original film, I think the way the Predator is revealed was such a success because they took their time and they made a meal out of it. The terror was supported by the slow burn of the Predators’ reveal. It was something that you hadn’t quite seen. You don’t see the Predator for the first half hour. In this film, we’ve tried to replicate that slow reveal.”